This invention relates to a process for reforming a full-boiling range hydrocarbon feed to enhance benzene yield by a combination of steps including separating the hydrocarbon feed into fractions, then separately treating the fractions by catalytic reforming the recovering the products. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for integrating a catalytic aromatization process which uses a catalyst superior in reforming C.sub.6 and C.sub.7 paraffins with a catalytic reforming process utilizing a conventional reforming catalyst in a manner which enhances the benzene yield, increases energy efficiency and efficiently recovers the resulting products.
In a conventional reforming process, pentanes and lighter hydrocarbons (C.sub.5.spsb.-) are first removed with the C.sub.6.spsb.+ stream sent to a reformer followed by fractionation with the overhead sent to an extraction unit as shown in FIG. 2. While a substantial amount of aromatics (primarily toluene, xylenes and C.sub.9 aromatics) are produced using a conventional reforming catalyst such as a Pt-Re gamma alumina catalyst, this process is not designed to maximize benzene yields.